St Andrew's CofE Primary School

Age group 4-11 Inspection date(s) 7–8 February 2012 Inspection number 380672 St Andrew's CfE Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 123500 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 380672 Inspection dates 7–8 February 2012 Lead inspector Miranda Perry

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 262 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mark Lea Headteacher Adrian Marsh Date of previous school inspection 18 October 2006 School address Park Lane Shifnal TF11 9HD Telephone number 01952 460226 Fax number 01952 463703 Email address Head.st-andrews@shropshirelg.net achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days notice. Twenty-six lessons or part lessons were observed, amounting to about nine and a quarter hours in total, taught by nine teachers and two teaching assistants, of which six were joint observations with the headteacher. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and staff. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, and looked at a range of evidence, including the school’s documents for self-evaluation and safeguarding. Inspectors observed the school’s work and studied standards in reading, the work pupils were doing in their books and the tracking system used to monitor pupils’ progress. Inspectors considered the 58 questionnaires completed by parents and carers as well as those from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

St Andrew’s is a larger-than-average sized primary school. Classes are of combined year groups. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is lower than the national average. Almost all pupils are White British. There are very few from minority ethnic heritages, or pupils who speak English as an additional language. A below-average proportion of pupils are disabled or have special educational needs, including those pupils that possess a statement of special educational needs. The school has received the Shropshire Silver Award for special educational needs, a Food for Life Award, gold, an Eco-Schools bronze award, National Healthy Schools and Safer Schools status and the Investors in People standard. The school meets the current floor standard, whereby the government sets minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

There is a privately managed, pre-school on site, which also runs before- and after- school clubs. This is inspected separately by Ofsted and a report for this provision can be found on the Ofsted website. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good school. Attainment is above average by the end of Year 6, which represents good progress from pupils’ starting points. Previous good performance has been consolidated, in part, as a result of an exciting curriculum which enables pupils to learn in a real-life context.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. They benefit from the reorganisation of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which has increased opportunities for them to learn creatively.  Pupils continue to progress well in Key Stage 1 and by the end of Year 2 reach above-average standards. Good progress is maintained in Key Stage 2.  Pupils enjoy their learning because teaching is good. Strong relationships with staff mean that pupils are motivated and engaged. They want to know what they have to do to improve, although marking does not always give them this information.  The curriculum gives pupils a good range of learning opportunities. In

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Key findings

particular, they have additional opportunities provided by local and international links, for example, by a neighbouring farm and a school in Kenya. These learning opportunities help pupils to develop as considerate individuals, who act safely, behave well and have a sophisticated understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues.  Pupils behave well, but the school’s approaches to behaviour management are sometimes inconsistently applied.  The school is successful in eliminating gaps in achievement and rates of progress between groups of pupils. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs succeed well because of the school’s inclusive practices which ensure all pupils are treated as individuals with equal potential.  The pupils learn successfully in lessons because the school works hard at improving teaching. Leaders and managers model best practice, and develop effective programmes of mentoring and support. However, the monitoring and

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Key findings

evaluation of teaching are not fully systematic. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the number of lessons in which teaching and learning are outstanding to 66% by July 2012 through:  formalising the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning so that staff have better-focused areas for improvement  ensuring that marking is consistent and helps pupils know how to improve.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Formalise best practice in the management of behaviour so that:  practice matches policy, directly  approaches to behaviour management are more consistently and systematically applied by all staff  behaviour in lessons and throughout the school becomes consistently outstanding.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ good learning and above-average standards attained are evident in the records of progress they make over time, their work in books and in the lessons seen during the inspection. Pupils make good progress when they are identifying for themselves what they need to do next. In a Year 5/6 class, for example, after selecting the calculation skills they would need to complete a construction project, pupils had to list the skills they most needed to improve. One pupil said, ‘I can see how much I know now.’ Pupils do less well on the occasions when they are not given clear next steps for their learning, and some pupils report that they do not always know how to improve their work.

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Achievement of pupils

The pace of progress is good, and if gaps between the progress of different groups appear, the school develops strategies that close them. The adoption of learning styles that suit the needs of Key Stage 2 girls has closed the gap between high- ability girls’ and equally able boys’ achievement in mathematics. Pupils from all ethnic heritages achieve equally well.

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Achievement of pupils

Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs progress well because adult support is effective, and pupils are taught how to help each other with their learning. The fact that teaching assistants have a strong subject knowledge, work in close partnership with the teacher and have a very thorough understanding of the pupils’ learning needs mean that disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make as good – and sometimes better – progress than their peers at the school. In one class, pupils working as a group, adopted specific learning roles to support a pupil with special educational needs, and as a result, all pupils in the Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

group made good progress in understanding the properties of angles.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils at St Andrew’s enjoy reading and they reach above-average standards in reading by the end of both Key Stages 1 and 2. Enjoyment of books, stories and growing understanding of the sounds letters make is fostered in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and this enjoyment impacts positively on the good progress pupils make across all areas in the Reception Year and Year 1. Progress in reading is good because letters and sounds are taught in a way that engages pupils and ensures they respond positively to high expectations. Years 1/2 pupils were delighted by the idea that they could throw away the word ‘say’, and explore the letters and sounds of all the alternatives they could use instead, such as ‘whisper’, or ‘murmur’.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers are justified in saying that their children are making good progress at the school. Several parents and carers report that their children make better progress now the curriculum has been adapted to a real-life context. Pupils commented that when they visited the farm, ‘You would not believe how much I knew about perimeters.’

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Quality of teaching

Pupils benefit from good teaching across the school, and most parents and carers correctly recognise that their children are being taught well at St Andrew’s. Lessons are planned to meet individual pupils’ needs, and teachers are constantly adjusting activities to match the range of abilities. Teaching of pupils in intervention groups is particularly successful. In these groups, lessons are planned in response to how well pupils achieved in the previous lesson. The desired outcome for each pupil is mapped and relentlessly pursued by the teaching assistant. Pupils are given the confidence to problem-solve in active, empowering ways. For example, a Year 5/6 group was estimating the volume of different containers using a variety of strategies, such as testing their weight, filling them with water and comparing them to each other. Over a very short period of time, all pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have

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Quality of teaching

special educational needs, grew in confidence and relished their increasing success at accurate estimation. When asked why he was filling a jug with water, a pupil with special educational needs said, ‘because it’s fun and the way I learn best’.

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Quality of teaching

The school’s cross-curricular approach ensures the pupils’ basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics are well developed. Teaching reinforces mathematics through literacy, and vice versa. Pupils are taught to make links between what they learn in one subject and another. Every half term the Year 5/6 pupils complete an independent writing activity. They are given a variety of stimuli, so that they competently transfer their skills across religious education, science, mathematics and English. Teaching in this cross-curricular way enables pupils to work well, both in groups and independently, and enhances their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Quality of teaching

Most pupils think that teaching is good at the school, although some say that they do not always know how well they are doing. In the best lessons, teachers talk to pupils Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Quality of teaching

about their progress, and mark their books so that pupils know where they are, and what they have to do next. Pupils say that they appreciate the way that they are given their targets so that they use them to get better. In some lessons, marking does not always give pupils a clear picture of how well they have done, and how to improve.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils, parents and carers are rightly convinced that good behaviour in and around the school is well established. Inspectors saw examples of outstanding behaviour. Pupils respect each other and their environment. Taking responsibility for keeping the school a clean, tidy, pleasant and purposeful place to work is second nature to them. They concentrate well in class, and respond to the high expectations placed on them in terms of participation, and taking their learning seriously. Bullying in any form is rare, as affirmed by pupils and their parents and carers, and pupils are well equipped by the school to deal with it. When bullying does happen, it is usually the result of minor disagreements, which are dealt with swiftly by teaching staff to the pupils’ satisfaction. On occasions, the process of logging behaviour issues over time, as specified in the school’s policy, is not put into practice. Pupils say that, sometimes,

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

the influence of the midday supervisors is not effective enough in ensuring best behaviour. As a consequence, pupils think they would benefit from a more consistent application of the school’s behaviour policy.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils act safely, and feel safe. Their attendance is above average. They are confident about taking on responsibilities and regularly prepare and deliver electronic presentations to their peers about issues that concern them, such as the negative effects of swearing. The pupils rise to the challenge of their regular visits to the farm, and the cultivation of their own fruit and vegetables. They are confident and resilient when learning in the world of work. One pupil said, ‘They help you here to be a professional.’

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Leadership and management

Leaders and managers at St Andrew’s are passionate about their school, and the ethos – in which pupils realise their potential as learners through active, creative and exciting learning – is shared by all the staff. All staff are wholeheartedly positive about how the school is led.

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Leadership and management

Planning is thorough, ambitious and matches the school’s vision, enabling leaders to take concerted action to tackle weaknesses. After implementing a series of effective strategies to improve progress in writing at Key Stage 2, action is now having a positive impact on the attainment of high-ability pupils in mathematics as a result of focused-improvement plans.

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Leadership and management

Promotion of equality of opportunity is good because the school works hard to close any gaps with national averages for all groups. This promotion contributes to making St Andrew’s a harmonious community in which there is no discrimination, and one Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

which takes its responsibility to its local, rural community seriously as shown in the school’s close working with its local and its wider communities.

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Leadership and management

Effective monitoring and assessment of attainment and achievement enable the school to track every pupil with vigilance and ensure that its high expectations are met. One of the strengths of the tracking process is that it enables the school to understand each pupil’s specific and ever-changing learning needs. All teachers are set challenging targets for the attainment and progress of their classes, and provided with comprehensive support through dialogue and review, and helpful opportunities for professional development to achieve them. However, monitoring and evaluation of teaching are not so thorough, and less focused than tracking procedures. Consequently, although helpful professional development opportunities are provided for all staff, their needs are not precisely defined by monitoring and evaluation of their performance. Nevertheless, the school’s good capacity for further improvement is shown by its strong track record of good achievement and effective teaching and

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Leadership and management

The governing body ensures that arrangements for safeguarding meet statutory requirements. Governors have a thorough knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, are adept at recognising progress that is questionable, and urge action where necessary to improve pupils’ performance. Governors do not have a clear picture of behaviour over time, because the policy of logging incidents is not always adhered to.

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Leadership and management

The school provides a good curriculum which is broad and balanced. One of the curriculum’s strengths is its response to pupils’ interests and learning styles. The pupils relish the opportunities the curriculum gives them to learn outside and in the local community. For example, Foundation Stage pupils made good progress as a result of investigating the opportunities for measuring and calculation out in the snow. There are plenty of artistic and cultural experiences for the pupils to enjoy. From the Early Years Foundation Stage onwards, pupils show empathy for people who in live in different circumstances to themselves, particularly because of the school’s partnership with a Kenyan school, which provides well for the pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Shifnal, TF11 9HD

My colleagues and I thoroughly enjoyed our two days inspecting your school. Thank you for making us most welcome. Your enthusiasm, good behaviour and support for the school really impressed us. We agree with you that you learn a lot and we note that you told us that you are happy to come to school.

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Inspection of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Shifnal, TF11 9HD

You go to a good school. You make good progress and learn well. You told us about, and we saw for ourselves, some real, lifestyle learning of which you are proud. We think your work with the local community – on the neighbouring farm, and producing your own vegetables – show you are mature, confident and responsible individuals. We admire the way you respect each other and your school. We think, as you do, that most of the time the school manages your behaviour well.

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Inspection of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Shifnal, TF11 9HD

Teaching is good, and we know that you appreciate the help that teachers give you. You get on very well with your teachers, and respond to their high expectations of you. Teachers have a very good understanding of the different ways you learn and where you are up to. Most of the time, you know how well you are doing, but sometimes the marking in your books does not help you as much as it could. Standards in English and mathematics are above average by the end of Year 6. All of you achieve well.

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Inspection of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Shifnal, TF11 9HD

We have asked your headteacher and governors to make sure that teaching goes on getting better, and that marking always helps you understand how well you are doing. We have asked the school to make sure that everyone, particularly midday supervisors, manage your behaviour to the same high standards.

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Inspection of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Shifnal, TF11 9HD

You can help by always using teachers’ marking to improve your work, and by continuing to enjoy your learning.

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Inspection of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Shifnal, TF11 9HD

Miranda Perry Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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